A fugitive who had been living in Hemet under a false identity was arrested by the FBI last week, capping an international manhunt in a 16-year-old Chicago homicide.

Giovanni Spiller, 65, was wanted for a 1996 bar brawl outside a Chicago pool hall that killed Robert Castillo, a childhood friend since they grew up together in the Philippines.

Authorities do not know how long Spiller had been in Hemet, but neighbors reported having seen him in the area for the past year, FBI Supervisory Special Agent Don Roberts said.

Spiller had adopted the alias of Johnny Harrington from a Florida prison inmate, Roberts said. Court records show he received a speeding ticket under that name in July in the Banning area.

According to the Chicago Tribune, a reader who saw a story on the newspaper’s website about Spiller’s case tipped off FBI agents in Chicago on Feb. 21 that the fugitive might be living in Hemet.

FBI agents in Chicago asked the FBI’s Inland Regional Apprehension Team that same day to monitor a house where Spiller may have been living, Roberts said. Authorities were basing their search off a 16-year-old photo.

FBI agents found Spiller as he pulled into his driveway at his Navarre Drive home and arrested him, Roberts said. He had a fake ID with the Harrington name, but he matched the photo and tattoos described by authorities, Roberts said. He eventually was fingerprinted in jail and admitted his name was Spiller, Roberts said.

Spiller was charged in 1996 with one count of murder in Cook County, Ill. He was booked into jail in Chicago, but posted bail shortly afterward and fled the area.

Spiller spent an unknown number of years in the Philippines and lived in other locations as well, Roberts said.

The FBI in Chicago sought a federal warrant in 1997 for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a motion to dismiss the federal charge Tuesday, following Spiller’s arrest.

He is being held at the Robert Presley Detention Center without bail and has waived his right to an extradition hearing before being sent back to Chicago. Authorities have 10 days to return him, according to the Riverside County district attorney’s office.

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